After weeks of gruelling teamwork, Microsoft announces team Bloom as winners of the second season of its Africa Development Center (ADC) Game of Learners Virtual Hackathon. Team kaizen came in second place and Team Tulearn came in third to complete the winning three teams.
Season 2 of the Microsoft ADC Game of Learners virtual hackathon competition involved 60 undergraduate students from Nigeria and Kenya. With the teams taking on the challenge of solving the education accessibility problems in Africa using technology. The 12 teams had a diversity and gender balance of 30 females and males.
Team Bloom led by Bethany Jepchumba from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, designed the winning solution Bloom-Learn.
The solution features a digital platform with capabilities to link students and teachers across Africa. Teachers are able to upload classes, create one-on-one sessions with students, as well as communicate with students on each course via a chat forum. Students can use a booking session to connect with teachers. Bloom-Learn is built with Microsoft’s Azure App Service, Power platform and Microsoft 365.
The other Team Bloom members include Joy Kathure (Dedan Kimathi University, Kenya), Festus Idowu (Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria), Fortune Adekogbe (University of Lagos, Nigeria) and Afandi Indiatsi (Strathmore University, Kenya).
Jack Ngare, Microsoft ADC Kenya Managing Director, notes that Microsoft is committed to supporting these young innovators to develop some of their ideas into viable solutions.
Team Bloom gets the winning trophy and each member will receive a smartphone. They also get one-year Azure credits and one year LinkedIn Learning vouchers. Azure Developer exam voucher, digital certificate, digital badge, a swag bag, and one-on-one mentorship from preferred professionals for winning.
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It is a virtual hands-on workshop and will take place from the 3rd to the 7th of May 2021.
The company says its goals are to help participants deepen their technical knowledge and sharpen their interview skills. It will also give them an opportunity to network and interact with Microsoft female software engineers.
Business Program Manager at Microsoft Nigeria, Princess Anya says this workshop is for you if you applied for a software engineering role in a top technology organization and couldn’t get the position.
To participate in the workshop check out the eligibility requirements from the application page. Some are to have a year and above experience in programming, be a resident of Nigeria or Ghana.
Don’t forget to kindly share this with anyone in your network who might benefit from this workshop.
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Check out other stories making the news in the technology ecosystem in Africa and the Middle East.
Microsoft is announcing it has helped over 30 million people in 249 countries and territories acquire digital skills. Out of this, over one million learners across Africa participated in the Microsoft Global Skills program.
The global skills initiative offers free online courses across Microsoft, LinkedIn, and GitHub learning platforms. It seeks to help people, mostly those affected by the pandemic gain in-demand skills to be employable.
Across the Middle East and Africa region, 2.1 million learners have participated in the program. With software development, customer service, project manager and data analysis being the popular learning paths among learners.
The top 10 countries with learners across Africa are South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt, Morocco, Kenya, Tunisia, Algeria, Ghana, Senegal and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Comoros, Sao tome and Principe, Eritrea, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Seychelles and the Central African Republic are countries with less than 500 learners.
To get more Africans to acquire digital skills, Microsoft is also partnering with organizations and governments. Offering additional funding and services to make this possible where this is necessary.
Microsoft is extending the free LinkedIn Learning and Microsoft Learn courses and low-cost certifications that align to 10 of the most in-demand jobs offer through 2021.
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Check out other stories making the news in the technology ecosystem in Africa and the Middle East.
The initiative will will focus on training women and girls in software development, product design, product management, data science and AI engineering, and cybersecurity.
The Women Techsters initiative is opened to girls and women aged 16 to 40 years in the 54 African Countries. However, the program is launching in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Egypt and South Africa. With plans to scale the initiative to girls and women in more African countries later.
The training will be delivered through a series of simultaneous activities such as; bootcamps, open days, masterclasses and fellowships.
Microsoft says the program has been developed in such a way that participants will not only learn and develop deep technical skills. But they can fill knowledge gaps, learn coding skills and jumpstart their careers.
Prior to the launch, Microsoft piloted the initiative with Tech4dev in Nigeria called the Nigeria Women Techsters. Fatima Ahmed a participant in the Tech4Dev Nigerian Women Techsters program says; I thought I was just coming to learn new skills and go back to apply for jobs. But during the training, I started getting job opportunities. Today, I work as a technical support engineer at Tek Experts, where I provide cloud-based solutions. I am glad I took a bold step to come for the Nigerian Women Techsters training.Read more about her experience and what to expect here.
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The Microsoft Leap program is announcing a Data Analyst apprenticeship cohort scheduled to take place in Lagos, Nigeria.
Application portal for registration opens from Monday 18th to the 25th of January 2020. With selected candidates scheduled to start the 16 weeks training on the 8th of March 2020.
Microsoft will host a webinar for anyone interested in learning more about the Leap apprenticeship program. On the 18th at 1200 Noon +1UTC, kindly find webinar link here. Kindly note the link will be live prior to the start of the event.
The webinar event will also throw light on if this is going to be only virtual, physical or mixed training. So don’t miss the webinar and come with your questions.
This is a Female-only cohort. The selected ladies will undergo four weeks of skills training, followed by twelve weeks of hands-on project sessions. With Wragby Business Solutions & Technologies, 2020 Microsoft Country Partner Nigeria award winner.
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Here are some of things a candidate must possess to know if they are eligible for the program. Don’t forget to click the link to find out more details that aren’t covered here about the program.
Data Analyst Cohort eligibility requirements
A flair for numbers or basic mathematics skills.
Basic knowledge of any of Microsoft Excel, Power BI or Tableau, etc.
Accuracy and attention to detail.
Written and verbal communication skills.
Must have completed the National Youth Service Corps obligation or are exempt.
Completed a tertiary degree in a numerate field.
If you meet the eligibility requirements, kindly click here to apply for the program.
The Vice-President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, has hinted the Federal Government (FG) of Nigeria is looking to work with Microsoft to make Nigeria the tech hub of Africa.
By collaborating with the multinational corporation to use technology to address issues affecting Nigerians and engage Nigeria’s youth.
The vice-president met virtually with Brad Smith, Microsoft President and Akin Banuso, Microsoft country manager, Nigeria. When Microsoft called on him to offer support for the Digital Transformation pillar of the Federal Government’s economic sustainability plan.
The meeting saw Microsoft disclosing plans to partner with the Nigeria FG for the benefit of the Nigerian people especially the youth. The finer details of this partnership are yet to be agreed on.
Microsoft president Brad Smith notes, the vision for Microsoft’s investment in Nigeria is one that will lead to the creation of Africa’s most viable technology ecosystem.
The vice-president has on various occasions appealed to global technology multinationals to build capacity and employ Nigerians.
I have always wondered how Microsoft can be a much more effective partner with us as a country, Prof. Osibanjo asks.
“Beginning with the African Development Center which I think is excellent, I think it shows the commitment of Microsoft in developing the digital centre here in Nigeria. And it also shows the company’s confidence in the sort of talents that we have and the commitment of the government to ensuring that we develop that talent in the best possible ways that we can.”
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